War of 1812

Assistance from Those "Whose Benevolent Hearts Glows"

At the core of Scottish Rite Freemasonry is a vision to be a fraternity that fulfills its Masonic obligation to care for its members. In this week’s post, we highlight two documents from the Van Gorden-Williams Library & Archives of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum & Library that illustrate this vision in action, as well as the “benevolent hearts” of Freemasonry.

In the first document, an 1810 letter to Columbian Lodge in Boston, Massachusetts, Susanna Kelly, the widow of Joseph Kelley, a Freemason, petitions Columbian for relief as she and her children await safe passage to Suriname, the home of Kelly’s mother. Susanna’s letter highlights the difficulties that unmarried or widowed women faced in nineteenth-century America and provides insights into how the embargo and Non-Intercourse Act of 1809, two events that led up to the War of 1812, affected everyday Americans.

The second document, an 1810 report submitted by the committee to aid Susanna Kelly, outlines Columbian Lodge’s efforts to aid the Kelly family in conjunction with St. Andrew’s Royal Arch Chapter and its High Priest, John B. Hammatt. Hammatt, who had been initiated at Columbian Lodge, personally paid for many of the family's expenses and advanced Mrs. Kelly $15.00, which may have been used to aid the family during the voyage.     

A1980_013_25DS1 

 


Letter from Susanna Kelly to Columbian Lodge,
June 2, 1810

Boston 2nd June 1810
To the Right Worshipful Master, officers, and members of Columbian Lodge – Gentlemen

It is with extreme reluctance your petitioner again solicits your attention, a widow, with several helpless children, in a country without connections, without money, and without friend (excepting indeed the charitable and humane society of free masons, of which my deceased husband was a member) where can I turn for assistance, but to those, whose benevolent Hearts glow with pity and friendship for the unfortunate. Soon after the death of my husband I determined to return to my mother who resides at Suriname, and who, having heard of my loss, kindly invited me to her arms. But the Embargo and non intercourse laws, prevented my taking advantage of her protection. + I have been obliged tho very reluctantly to request assistance of your fraternity to save myself and children from perishing. Intercourse between this + other countries, having been restored, I hope soon to be able to take a passage to Suriname + am at present in cheap lodging at Charlestown waiting on opportunity for that purpose. But, Gentlemen, I am without resource to obtain a subsistence, a stranger, and a foreigner, who will employ me. I appeal therefore to that generosity, that charity and to that humanity which is so often exercised in the cause of distress – whatever you may be pleased to grant me will be received with the most heart felt gratitude by, gentlemen, your devoted servant--

Susanna Kelly

A1980_013_26DS1Committee Report to Columbian Lodge, 1810  

The committee chosen by Columbian Lodge to alleviate the distress of the widow + children of our late Br. Joseph Kelly by presenting them certain sums of money according to votes of said Lodge, + also to procure a passage for them to Suriname, with deference state, that in conjunction with a committee from St. Andrews Chapter, for that purpose, they have accomplished the above object, but not without expending more money than was appropriated by said Lodge for that purpose as will appear by the following statement,

Cash advanced Mrs. Kelly $25.00
Cash paid for bread 10.50
Cash paid Mrs. Johnson for Mrs. Kelly and children’s board 2.90
Cash paid for wine, eggs, butter [carg. hack hire?] 7.30
Cash paid for beef + bread 7.36
Cash paid for [meal?] and washing floor 1.75
Cash paid for [sundries?] by J. B. Hammatt 34.25
Cash paid for [sauce?] by J. B. Hammatt 9.00
Cash paid for [Truck.g?] by J. B. Hammatt 2.00
Cash advan[ce]d Ms. K. by J. B. Hammatt 15.00
_____
$115.06

That the committee from St. Andrew’s Chapter have paid fifty one dollars of the above sum. Thereby leaving $64.06 paid by your committee, + that they have received 25$ of the Sec.y, which deducted from the above sum leaves $39.06 for which no provision has been made.

Dan.l Baxter      Committee
Sam. Smith

Caption

Letter from Susanna Kelly to Columbian Lodge, June 2, 1810. Gift of Columbian Lodge, Boston, Massachusetts, courtesy of Mrs. Godfrey S. Tomkins, MA 002.

Committee Report to Columbian Lodge, 1810. Gift of Columbian Lodge, Boston, Massachusetts, courtesy of Mrs. Godfrey S. Tomkins, MA 002.

 


David H. Cole’s Belt Plate

85.10 David H.Cole belt plateThis object, an 1810s belt plate in the collection of the Scottish Rite Masonic Museum and Library, carries several hints about its original owner:  a name, regiment number and a selection of Masonic symbols. But even with this comparatively rich group of clues, the story of this belt plate and the man who wore it remains elusive. 

Belt plates formed part of military dress in the late 1700s and into the 1800s. Officers and soldiers who wore cartridge boxes and swords, bayonets or other weapons suspended them on leather straps. During the War of 1812, when this plate was made, some soldiers wore decorative metal plates, often brass, on their uniform straps, at their chest or at their shoulders (you can see examples of both British and American 1812-era plates here). The U. S. Army uniform regulations did not detail plate designs until the 1820s. Many 1812-era regiments had their own uniform requirements and it is hard to know how closely soldiers followed regiment and Army uniform regulations. This cast brass belt plate may have been one Cole purchased or one issued to him and later engraved by a craftsman at his request. Either way, the engraving on this plate made it a one-of-a-kind object in Cole’s time and today.

An enlistment record for the 21st U. S. Infantry Regiment notes that David H. Cole, a trader, aged 23 and born in Cornish, Massachusetts (now Cornish, Maine), enlisted at Salem, Massachusetts, in April,  1814.  He served through May of the next year. The recorder also noted that Cole was 5’ 7 ¾” tall, with blue eyes, light hair and a light complexion. Another record tells us that for his service, in 1816 Cole earned a 160-acre land grant in Illinois. 

Records maintained at the Grand Lodge of Masons in Maine notes that a man named David Hammond Cole--initiated, passed and raised in 1814--was a member of Pythagorean Lodge No. 11 of Fryeburg.  Was this the same David H. Cole whose name is on the belt plate?  Possibly.  So far it has not been possible to confirm that David H. Cole and David Hammond Cole were one and the same, but it is clear that the David H. Cole who had the plate engraved identified himself with Freemasonry.  His plate features Masonic symbols including: columns, various working tools and symbols of office, as well as a square and compasses and an all-seeing eye.  The crenellated structure at the center of the square and compasses is not a standard Masonic symbol, but must have held meaning for David Cole, since he had it placed at the very center of his belt plate.

GL2004.4588 Elnathan Holmes belt plate Cole’s decorated belt plate may be one-of-a-kind, but related objects exist.  The collection of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts also includes an earlier belt plate engraved with a name and Masonic symbols.  This silver plate bears a date, 1787, and an owner’s name, Elnathan Holmes, Jr. (b. 1763).  Most of the symbols and the motto depicted on Holmes’ plate came from the frontispiece of a Masonic expose that had first been published in London in the 1760s, Jachin and Boaz; or An Authentic Key to the Door of Free-Masonry.  The engraver who decorated Cole’s plate used a different—and less readily identifiable—source.  Both Holmes and Cole left behind intriguing puzzles.  More importantly, they left enduring evidence of their pride in their military service and in their association with Freemasonry. 

Update: Thanks to help from the Bonney Memorial Library in Cornish, Maine and the Cornish Historical Society, we have some more information about the David H. Cole (1789-1841) who owned this belt plate.  His parents were Capt. Henry Cole (1764-1840) amd Olive Hammons (d. ca. 1805).  David Hammons Cole earned his living as a trader in Cornish, lived in Limington, Maine in the 1820s and later worked as an merchant and auctioneer in Portland, Maine.

 
References:

Sydney C. Kerksis, Plates and Buckles of the American Military (Kennesaw, GA:  The Gilgal Press, 1974)

Robert L. Taylor, Early Families of Cornish, Maine (Rockport, Me.: Picton Press , 1993), p. 29

Photo captions:

Belt plate, ca. 1814.  Special Acquisitions Fund, 85.10.

Belt plate, 1787.  Collection of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, GL2004.4588.  Photograph by David Bohl.


"We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours": Perry's Victory on Lake Erie

Perry, 74_3_2DI1 This print depicts a signal moment in the career of Oliver Hazard Perry (1785–1819), the commander of the U.S. naval fleet on Lake Erie during the War of 1812, a conflict which ended in 1815. On the morning of September 10, 1813, British Naval Commander Robert Barclay fired the first shots of what would become one of the most important naval battles in the war. The confrontation took place on the western end of Lake Erie, near what is now Sandusky, Ohio. You can see a map of its location here. After hours of fighting, Perry abandoned his badly damaged flagship, the USS Lawrence, and took command of a relatively unscathed vessel, the Niagara, from her less-experienced commander, Lieutenant Jesse Elliott. The battle began anew, and the British ships—whose senior officers had been wounded or killed—soon surrendered. Perry informed U.S. General William Henry Harrison (1773–1841) of the victory with the now-famous words, “We have met the enemy and they are ours.” This strategic triumph ensured American control of the Great Lakes and secured Perry the name, “The Hero of Lake Erie.”

Although publishers Kurz and Allison did not identify the original painting that inspired this print, two monumental paintings by William Henry Powell (1823–1879) clearly served as a jumping-off point for the engraver. The legislature in Ohio, Powell’s home state, commissioned one in 1857. Completed in 1865, it now hangs in rotunda of the State House. The U.S. Senate's Joint Committee on the Library commissioned the other, larger version in the months after the first painting went on view. It has hung in the Senate wing of the U.S. Capitol since 1873.

GW Crossing the Delaware, 74_2_13DI1 Like many historic prints, this image reflects the era in which it was made as much as the event it depicts. For example, both Perry’s heroic stance in the boat and the flag behind him recall Emanuel Leutze's iconic 1851 painting George Washington Crossing the Delaware, an image that a far-reaching audience found familiar, thanks to a widely available 1853 print. In addition, although a number of the sailors in Perry’s fleet were African American, Powell may have included the black sailor in his 1857 painting to highlight the issues of slavery and race during the years leading up to the Civil War. Several decades later, during the post-Civil War Reconstruction era, Kurz and Allison followed suit when making their copy of the image.

You can see both Perry’s Victory on Lake Erie and Washington Crossing the Delaware in the exhibition, “The Art of American History: Prints from the Collection,” now on view in the Museum’s newly renovated lobby area.

Photos:

Perry’s Victory on Lake Erie, late 1800s. Kurz and Allison (1880–1903), publishers, Chicago, Illinois. Special Acquisitions Fund, 74.3.2.

Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1853. Emanuel Leutze (1816–1868), artist; Paul Girardet (1821–1893), engraver; M. Knoedler (1823–1878), publisher, New York, New York. Special Acquisitions Fund, 74.2.13.


A National Treasure

95_021T1 One of the National Heritage Museum’s treasures – and a perennial favorite with our visitors – is the large 15-star American flag that proudly hangs in our Farr Conference Center. 

Donated in 1995 by John E. Craver, the flag had been passed down in his family for generations.  Makers sewed this flag, which measures approximately 11 feet by 12 ¾ feet, to fly over a military fort (or garrison) or on a vessel, marking them as U.S. property.  Unfortunately, we do not know who made it or where it originally flew.

The flag is made of wool bunting, a lightweight, mildew-resistant, coarsely woven fabric.  The blue section, called a canton, is colored with indigo.  This dye, common during the late 1700s and early 1800s, provided a deep, permanent color that rarely faded.  The red stripes are dyed with an unknown colorant and the white stars are made out of linen.

In 1996 and 1997, conservators worked 500 hours to stabilize the flag and prepare it for display.  After it was gently cleaned and stabilized, a supportive backing was attached.  A slightly angled back board further supports the flag in its specially constructed case, and low lighting helps to preserve it for generations to come.

The 15-star flag was the official U.S. design from 1794, when President George Washington (1732-1799) signed the Second Flag Act, until 1818, when legislators adopted the 20-star flag, adding one star for each state that joined the union since 1794.  The 1794 Second Flag Act mandated 15 stars and 15 stripes – one for each state then in the union – but did not specify design details, such as the arrangement of the stars.  You may notice that the Museum’s flag has only 14 stripes.  One was removed before we received it, probably due to deterioration, or possibly by a souvenir seeker.

The National Heritage Museum’s 15-star flag is one of only a handful still in existence known to have been made between 1794 and 1818.  The most famous 15-star flag is the Star-Spangled Banner, which flew over Baltimore’s Fort McHenry during the War of 1812.  The survival of that flag during the Battle of Baltimore in September 1814 inspired Francis Scott Key (1779-1843) to write the words to what is now the American national anthem.  The Star-Spangled Banner was donated to the Smithsonian Institution in 1912.  That flag recently underwent a $7 million conservation project to better preserve it in the decades to come.

The National Heritage Museum holds over fifty flags in its collection.  Most are American flags of varying sizes with anywhere from 13 to 50 stars.  In addition, the Museum’s collection includes Masonic and fraternal flags, as well as a few state flags.

15-star American flag, 1794-1818.  Gift of John E. Craver, 95.021.  Photograph by David Bohl.


Family Treasure: A Homemade 13-Star Flag

2008_048T1 In 1813, from her home on the Fore River in Weymouth Landing, Massachusetts, eight-year-old Harriet “Hattie” White presented this flag to a company of Weymouth Exempts.  Recently, after being passed down through five generations of the family, Francis and Christie Wyman donated it to the National Heritage Museum.

Harriet White was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, in 1805, the daughter of Major John White (1757-1816) and Nancy Babcock White (1775-1871).  In 1798, Harriet’s father, John, became commander of the Weymouth Light-Horse Troop.

According to family tradition, the flag was made by a group of women in Weymouth.  Harriet’s relatives may have been part of this group.  Perhaps young Harriet herself assisted by sewing the straight seam down the center or by making some of the neat hemming stitches along the edges.  Twelve blue silk stars are appliquéd to each side of the flag in a central oval shape.  A larger star is stitched in the middle.  On one end, a piece of glazed cotton with appliquéd red wool numbers, “1812,” is attached.  This piece seems to have been added later, well after the flag was initially made.  It helps to tell the flag's story, preserving its history of manufacture during the War of 1812 and reminding us of the value that subsequent family generations placed on it.

In 1829, when she was 24 years old, Harriet White married Benjamin Clark Harris (1799-1842) of Boston.  Harriet continued to talk about the flag at family gatherings until her death in 1887.  In 1916, a family member wrote down the details; these notes remained in a box with the flag when it was donated to the National Heritage Museum, allowing us to continue telling its story to future generations of Americans.

13-Star Flag, ca. 1813, Weymouth, Massachusetts, National Heritage Museum, gift of Francis and Christie Wyman, 2008.048.  Photograph by David Bohl.


Baron von Steuben's Regulations

Revolutionary Army officers created a very succinct creed at Verplanck's Point, N.Y. in 1782 where they paid homage to those they felt most deserving of credit for the Army's success.  Naturally, they included George Washington, Nathanael Greene, Henry Knox -- and Friedrich Steuben:

"...We believe that Baron Steuben has made us soldiers, and that he is capable of forming the whole world into a solid column, and displaying it from the center. We believe in his Blue Book...."

Friedrich Wilhelm Ludolf Gerhard Augustin von Steuben (1730-1794) was born and raised in Prussia.  He received his early military experience in the Seven Years War (1756-1763) but by the 1770's was in search of another war.  Twice he approached Benjamin Franklin in Paris for assistance to go to America, and the second time he was successful in getting a letter of introduction to General Washington.  Steuben sailed to America and arrived in Portsmouth, N.H. on December 1, 1777; by February he was in Pennsylvania, and by March he had the Continental army in Valley Forge learning how to drill, something sorely missing in the early months of the army.  Washington was so impressed that he wrote to Congress in late April:  "I should do injustice if I were to be longer silent with regard to the merits of Baron von Steuben.  His knowledge of his profession, added to the zeal..."  Washington recommended and Congress approved Steuben be promoted to Inspector General but with the rank and pay of Major General, a situation that pleased Steuben. 

Stuben_1794 In The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army, author Paul Lockhart concentrates on how Steuben went about getting the army ready for battle, the relentless drilling, and the many campaigns that followed.  But as Steuben's charge was to bring overall discipline and order to the troops, during the winter of 1778-79 he spent more time writing than drilling.  Steuben improved earlier attempts at a military manual and produced Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States (a copy of the title page of our Library's 1794 edition appears at left).  First published in Philadelphia in March 1779 with 150 pages and 8 plates, the initial printing produced over 1500 copies with blue covers (and thus it was known as the 'Blue Book').   It went on to have some seventy editions and to remain an indispensable manual for American soldiers until the War of 1812. The 'Blue Book' has even enjoyed several revivals, most recently during the Bicentennial of 1976, as it provided useful information for re-enactors. 

While early editions of the Regulations were quickly snapped up, an even larger market was created in 1792 when Congress passed the Militia Act.  As state militias began to appear, Steuben's manual filled the need for soldiers requiring instructions on everything from drilling to fighting in battle to setting up camp. The original manual usually was printed together with a more specific state manual.  

Our library is fortunate to have two copies of Steuben's Regulations, one published in Boston in 1793, and the other in 1794.  The latter was printed by Isaiah Thomas (1749-1831) and the plates engraved and signed by Amos Doolittle (1754-1832).  Donald C. O'Brien in Amos Doolittle: Engraver of the New Republic explains that, like many printers, Thomas quickly got into the business of printing the manuals after the Militia Act and likely hired Doolittle to do the engravings because his usual engraver, Joseph H. Seymour, was too busy with other jobs. 

As one of Doolittle's plates below shows, the drawings were simple.  The accompanying information was more detailed, however, clearly providing instructions for all aspects of military life from marching (e.g. the Common Step "is two feet and about seventy-five in a minute" while the Quick Step "is about one hundred and twenty in a minute") to the correct motion for taking aim and firing.

Stuben_1794_ad2 Plate VII (shown at left) details the correct Order of Encampment.  Accompanying instructions state:  The infantry will on all occasions encamp by battalions, as they are formed in order of battle.

The front of the camp will occupy the same extent of ground as the troops when formed; and the intervals between the battalions will be twenty paces, with an addition of eight paces for every piece of cannon a battalion may have.  The quarter-master of each regiment shall be answerable that he demands no more  ground than is necessary for the number of men he has actually with the regiment, allowing two feet for each file, exclusive of the officers, and adding sixteen feet for the intervals between the platoons.  He is also to be answerable that no more tents are to be pitched than are absolutely necessary, allowing one tent for the non-commissioned officers of each company, and one for every six men, including the drums and fifes.

And finally, both of our copies of the Regulations have signatures and notes in contemporary hand Stuben_1794_smith from previous owners, and the 1794 copy, in particular, may demonstrate that the Regulations were in use until the War of 1812.  There is good evidence that Capt. Wm. R. Smith (signature shown in the image at right) is William Rogers Smith (1774-1818) the only surviving son of a landowning Baltimore County family who would have had the needed financial resources to be a member of the Baltimore Blues, an outfit that fought during the War of 1812.

Additional information on Baron von Steuben may be found at websites of both the Society of the Cincinnati (an organization he helped found), and the Steuben Society of America.  Many memorials exist for Steuben, most notably statues in Washington, D.C., Valley Forge, Monmouth County, N.J., and Potsdam, Germany.

Sources consulted and mentioned above:

Lockhart, Paul.  The Drillmaster of Valley Forge: The Baron de Steuben and the Making of the American Army.  New York: HarperCollins, 2008.  Call number:  E 207 .S8 L63 2008

O'Brien, Donald C.  Amos Doolittle: Engraver of the New Republic.  New Castle, DE:  Oak Knoll Press, 2008.  Call number:  Call number: NE 955.2 .O27 2008

Riling, Joseph R.  Baron von Steuben and his Regulations.  Philadelphia:  Riling Arms Books Co., 1966.

Steuben, Frederick William.  Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States.  Boston:  Printed and sold by John W. Folson, Union Street.  Sold also by John Norman, Newbury Street, 1793. Call number:  RARE UB 501 1793  Gift of the J. Collier Family. 

Steuben, Frederick William.  Regulations for the Order and Discipline of the Troops of the United States, to which are added the United States Militia Act passed in Congress, May 1792, and the Militia Act of Massachusetts, Passed June 22, 1793.  A new edition illustrated by eight copperplates, accurately engraved.  Boston:  [Printed by I. Thomas and E.T. Andrews] For David West, No. 36, Marlborough Street and John West, No. 75, Cornhill, 1794.  Call number:  RARE UB 501 1794

Von Zemenszky, Edith.  The Papers of General Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, 1777-1794 : guide and index to the microfilm edition.  Millwood, N.Y. : Kraus International Publications, 1984.

Many thanks to Librarian Francis P. O'Neill at the Maryland Historical Society for information on William Rogers Smith.